Lifesaving garment



Oct. 10, 1944. J. c. HARRIS LIFE SAVING GARMENT Filed April 18, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I m/entor bud 0 name Oct. 10, 1944; J c; HARRlS I 2,359,843

LIFE SAVING GARMENT Filed April 18, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Jam 6901; 15am;-

Patented Oct. 10, 1944 LIFESAVING GARMENT John Clyde Harris, Virginia Beach, Va., assignor of one-half to Birdie Lee Beem, Norfolk, Va.

Application April 18, 1942, Serial No. 4395589 1 Claim. (Cl. 9-19) The present invention appertains to new and useful improvements in life savings garments especially adapted to be worn by aviators, seamen and others who venture over or upon water.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a life saving garment of the inflatable type which is sectionized in such a way as to permit cutting off of any one of the air sections promptly should a rupture occur therein.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a life saving garment which can be quickly slipped over the head and shoulders and which will serve to maintain an appreciable part of the upper portion of the body dry and substantially warm, thus minimizing the chances of contracting pneumonia.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a life saving garment which will automatically become inflated and which is capable of being manually inflated as a supplement for the automatic means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to the reader of the following description.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front elevational view of the garment as worn.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View fragmentarily showing the garment.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through several sections of the garment.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detailed sectional view showing the manifold tube and outlet valve.

Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals designate like parts, it can be seen that numeral 5 generally refers to the life saving garment, which is of the slip-over type having openings 6, B for the arms of the wearer and a neck opening I.

The lower.front portion of the garment has pockets 8, 9 for containing an automatic inflating unit l0 and a manually controlled inflating unit I I, respectively. These pockets and inflating unit form part of my co-pending application Serial No. 439,732, filed April 20, 1942.

As is clearly shown in Figure 4, the garment is constructed of an inner sheet l2 and an outer sheet I3. These sheets are of rubberized canvas or some other leak-proof material.

On lines passing around the garment the sheets l2, l3 are vulcanized together as at l4 and these vulcanized lines define a pluralityof circumferential air pockets or passageways l5, several of which can become ruptured and deflated without seriously affecting the buoyancy of the garment.

Extending vertically between the sheets l2, l3

and at the front of the garment is a manifold tube l6, preferably of hard rubber or some equivalent material. It can be seen by inspecting the drawings, that this tube I6 acts as an obstruction for each passageway I5 and that this tube l6 has a plurality of laterally disposed necks l1 protruding therefrom, each terminating in a head I8 having a port l9 therein. Each of these heads has a tapered recess 20 therein opposed to a threaded bore 2! for receiving a needle valve 22. This valve 22 is threaded and has a knurled head 23 at its outer end.

The back of the garment is vulcanized on a vertical line 23 to hold the sheets l2, l3 together at this point in order to further divide the air passageways. With this vulcanization 23, each passageway is divided into a pair of cells a, a. The headed ends of the valve element 22 are exposed in front of the garment, and each portion I8, which is preferably of hard rubber has a reduced portion 24 which is vulcanized to the edge portion of the garment at the opening through which it protrudes, in order to establish a leakproof construction.

As is apparent in Figure 2, the lower end of the manifold tube I6 is closed, while the upper end has a flexible tube 26 protruding therefrom and in this tube is a valve unit 2'! including a needle valve 28 corresponding to the needle valve 22 in Figure 5.

It can now be seen that when a person drops into water with the aforedescribed life-saving garment worn, the garment will self-inflate itself due to the automatic inflating unit H] which is fully described in my co-pending application Serial No. 439,732, filed April 20, 1942.

The wearer may be unconscious at this particular time and upon his return to consciousness and should the garment require further inflation, he may further inflate the garment by the manually controlled inflating unit II, which is fully set forth in my co-pending application above alluded to.

Should the unit ll become exhausted, then the wearer may have recourse to that structure which forms the present invention. He may open the valve 28 and the various valves 22 and by blowing into the tube 26 and manifold tube It inflate the passageways l5 and when sufficient inflation has taken place he may close the valve 28. In all probability the valves 22 will be open when he starts to inflate, as the units Ill and II will have previously functioned to deliver gas into the passageways l5 by way of conduits 29, 30, the tube IS, the neck I! and the ports l9. However, should a rupture occur in any one of the cells a the corresponding valve 22 can be closed so that the gas will not be lost.

It is preferable that the garment have crotch straps 3! to prevent rising of the garment on a wearer while in the water.

While the foregoing specification sets forth the invention in specific terms, it is to be understood that numerous changes in the shape, size and materials may be resorted to without departing,

from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed hereinafter.

Having described the invention,' what claimed as new is:

.and said cells.

A life saving garment comprising a jacket including a, pair of outer and inner continuous sheets of vulcanizable material, said jacket being formed with vertically spaced bands extending around the same throughout which the sheets are vulcanized together, a vertical manifold in the frontof the jacket to which said sheets are vulcanized, and said sheets being vulcanized together at the back of the jacket to form a vertically extending partition between said sheets, said bands, manifold and vertical partition cojacting to form between the sheets two series of V inflatable cells extending in each series half-way around the jacket upon opposite sides of the same, and valved outlets between said manifold JOHN CLYDE HARRIS. 

